I disclaim again. I only own Charlie and those unknown.

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Chapter Sixteen – Sweet Child of Mine

Randy hadn't seen Charlie in six weeks. He wasn't sure what happened. One minute she's picking him up from the gutter putting him back together and the next she's gone. Vince and Randy had agreed to let him go overseas and when he got back, Charlie was gone. She had changed the locks, hadn't been seen in the bar for a few days and her brothers weren't talking to him. Everything he'd had at Charlie's was now at his parent's house and his mom laid into him hard about screwing this up. He spoke to his dad that he had no idea what had happened. He kept going back to the bar to get any clues he could and always came up empty. He made phone calls to anyone he thought might be able to help.

He sat in the bedroom of his parent's house thinking of how to contact her. Maria heard there were book signings but he was having a hell of a time coordinating that schedule with his own. And what's up with the signings? She wanted to be anonymous and now she's out there showing herself to the world. His comfort zone was gone and nobody could tell him why. He fought his inner demons, wanting a drink, wanting a smoke, but he wouldn't do it. He wasn't going there again no matter what.

As he listened to his I-pod he felt his phone vibrate. Maria. Randy quickly answered and hoped for good news. "She'll be in Atlanta on Monday." Perfect. He'd fly in early and try to see her, okay stalk her. He didn't have to be at the arena until three so he could be at her signing for the entire three hours. A door had opened for him and he was walking through it. He called the airport and arranged his flight. He called the bookstore to get their hours so he could be there before she arrived. For the next two days he planned what he would say and what he would do.

Meanwhile, Charlie toured the country for her signings. She had her publicist map out a schedule that had her on the opposite end of the country from Randy every week. So far so good but she new there was a glitch. She would arrive in Atlanta be driven straight to the signing and right back out of the city. The city where they'd first made love. The city where he first said I love you. Hopefully he wasn't going to find her. Her brothers and bar manager reported to her every time they saw him, mother fucker, and they all told her how distraught he was. Nobody knew why Charlie walked away from him except Charlie.

Randy's flight was uneventful and he quickly grabbed a rental car to be the first for her signing. He was now debating whether or not to make his presence known or wait until she was finished. He didn't want to cause a scene or embarrass her in anyway so he decided to just hang back and watch. He got a table in the coffee shop about 20 feet from the table set up for her signing. It wasn't long before the place was buzzing and employees were scrambling. He saw out the window a limo pull up and he knew this was it.

She's got a smile that it seems to me, reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky

Now and then when I see her face she takes me away to that special place
And if I stared too long I'd probably break down and cry

She looked amazing. That hair blowing in the breeze, the body he knew was hidden beneath the clothes and those eyes. He loved that feature. Her large sunglasses hid them but he knew what they looked like and how they transformed with each mood. He knew her as he'd known no other. He knew all her favorite things, all her pet peeves and what he believed were her secrets. She had given him all of her in return for nothing. What had he given her? Pain, grief, anger, disappointment, his heart and soul.

She walked in to riotous applause and he could tell she was uncomfortable. She smiled graciously and was escorted to her seat quickly, but he knew by her body language she was fighting complete panic. God she looks beautiful. He actually planned to stare at her the entire signing. He spotted John and Maria walking in with Johnny and Melina hoping they wouldn't draw attention to him. Of course Cena knew he'd be there and stealthly made his way over to him. John threw down the latest Maxim magazine and Randy rolled his eyes thinking John wanted him to look at his latest article. Until he looked at the cover.

She's got eyes of the bluest skies as if they thought of rain
I hate to look into those eyes and see an ounce of pain

Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place where as a child I'd hide
And pray for the thunder and the rain to quietly pass me by

Charlie was on the cover! Wearing nothing but a sad look. He flipped through and found the lingerie spread featuring his future wife, the mother of his future children. She looked exotic and sexy as hell. Why? She was doing things that were completely out of character. Randy said nothing, he just put the magazine back down and looked at John. "What are you waiting on?" He asked the now deeply depressed young man practically crying like a child.

"I didn't want to approach her before the signing and possibly embarrass her or cause unwanted attention so I'm waiting until the end." He said staring at her, his expression halfway between heartbroken man and star struck groupie.

"Makes sense. Want me to wait with you?" He already planned on it in case this went horribly wrong.

"Sure man, thanks." He said as they bumped knuckles. Maria, Melina and Johnny came over with autographed books and coffee.

"I didn't tell her you were here." Maria said as she looked at Randy sympathetically. Johnny gave him a pat on the back and they all sat down and read her book and drank coffee. Maria was already half way through the book before today and had an inkling about the inspiration for the story. Being a lover of mysteries, she always tried to be a sleuth and figure out the ending before it was given to the reader. As she sat there reading it hit her. This was why Charlie wasn't talking to Randy. All in black and white, chapter 16. "Randy, you have to read this." She passed him the book.

"Maria, I haven't even started it yet and you want me to read the middle?" He said pushing it back to her.

"Look dumbass, just read it and then I'll explain." She said as she rolled her eyes. As he began reading they all skipped to the chapter. Melina looked up at Maria when she finished and it clicked with her too. Johnny looked at Maria as did John and neither caught the clues. "The book is about Randy. A high school football star who makes it to the NFL. He has personal demons he battles and one day meets a girl who does her best to help him. The girl decides to surprise him while he's away playing an exhibition game in another country. When she walks the halls of the stadium she hears voices, a female and the love of her life. The girl is giggling and she can barely hear his voice." It dawns on John and Randy's afraid to hear more.

"The girl turns a corner and finds her man in the arms of another woman. He's wearing the girl like a glove and then she sees him kiss her." Maria reaches across the table and smacks Randy in the head.

"What the fuck? I never cheated on her. Ever." He knew he'd never even looked at another woman, dreamt of another woman or even flirted. He never accepted the advances of another woman so if this was supposed to be him where did she get this preposterous idea?

"Are you sure? Not even kiss another girl?" Melina asked and Randy shook his head. "Oh. Uh oh."

"What?" They all said.

"You did a promo while we were in Australia, backstage you made advances on Torrie." Melina deduced.

"It was a fucking promo! Cameras were there, production crew! She had to have seen all that!" He was now standing and knew the one thing that would kill Charlie was infidelity.

"Did you do any one on one practice without the cameras?" Johnny asked. But Randy shot him a dead stare. "Sorry dude, had to ask."

"No, I was never alone with Torrie. When we rehearsed one time…oh shit." Randy's hands flew to his head as it dawned on him. "There was only the director and the lighting guy. They were sitting on the crates across from us. I never kissed Torrie but I did have her pinned to the wall."

"And a woman in love is only going to see the two of you. Her tunnel vision will block out the surroundings." Maria finished his thought. "I know I would, especially if I didn't know ahead of time what the plan was."

"You'd be a dickless dead man." Maria said to Johnny and he knew she wasn't exaggerating. Now he knew, now he knew why she'd left him without any explanation.

Where do we go
Where do we go now
Where do we go
Sweet child o' mine

Charlie had survived the signing and was genuinely happy to see Maria, John, Melina and Johnny. Without her asking anything Maria had volunteered Randy wasn't here and he was doing shitty. This definitely meant Randy was here and her proof came when her Maxim magazine was slammed down on the table by the hands she knew so well. The hands that had caressed her tenderly, had driven her to multiple orgasms, had loved her body like no other. The hands that had once made her feel safe and secure. Without even looking up she quickly signed the magazine. "Thank you for coming." She said and stood to leave through the back.

She was frantic and needed to get out of there now. Right now. But he grabbed her wrist to stop her. Randy, John and Johnny made quite the presence and her security team wasn't quite sure what to do. Charlie made no signal to them and she appeared to know these men. "We're talking before you leave Atlanta." He whispered to her.

"My flight leaves in two hours and I have to be on it." She tried to free her wrist but to no avail.

"I'll take you." Randy said and held her hand as he gathered the bag he knew she traveled with and her purse. As he almost pulled her out of the store she tried to thank everyone despite her swift departure. Randy gave her no choice and he pushed her in through the driver's side and made her cross over. He did everything fast so she couldn't escape. He pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road before he began relaxing.

"I didn't do it." He said softly.

"Didn't do what?" She asked completely overwhelmed and on the verge of anger.

"Didn't cheat. Ever." He looked over at Charlie who's expression had drastically changed. She took deep breaths to calm her emotions. He would not see her cry nor would she waste any more tears on him. "I know what you think. I know what you think you saw." Charlie looked away to better control her rising tears. "Maria was in the middle of your book when she made me read chapter 16. I read it just know at the signing. She already knew it was about me and put two and two together and figured out that was what happened."

"Get to the point, Randy." Damn tears.

"It was a promo. From what I figure, you saw the ONE rehearsal we had with only the director and the lighting guy. Otherwise had you seen the actual shot, there were 20 other people around." He took her hand in his and squeezed it. She would listen and she would hear him. He pulled into an office parking lot and turned to her. "Look at me, baby girl." She slowly turned but hadn't looked up. Charlie stared at their fingers intertwined and randy felt the tear fall on his finger. His free hand cupped her face and made her look at him.

"You know me. You know I would never hurt you, especially on purpose. I see no other woman when you hold my heart." That was cheesy.

All Charlie could see was Randy and Torrie in an intimate position, his face inches from hers. She hadn't gotten past it in six weeks. She looked into his eyes and the tears flowed down her face. His heart was breaking again, and nothing was more devastating than the raw emotion on her beautiful face. Once again he had hurt her, he had broken her. Charlie jumped from the car and walked across the parking lot. She had no idea where she was or where she planned on walking too but she had to get away from him. She got maybe 50 feet from the car before her emotions crippled her and she collapsed to her knees. She openly sobbed and let all her pain and heartache flow from her.

Randy had gotten out of the car when she did and walked behind her. The second her knees hit the ground he was by her side. Cradling her while she cried he felt his own tears wet his eyes. Her face soaked from her tears, her eyes giving away her heart, her whispered words crushed him with one blow. "What does she have that I don't have?"